Liverpool may have received some encouragement in their pursuit, according to the Daily Telegraph. A report claims that the Reds are willing to allow Charlie Adam to join the Cottagers on part-exchange potentially helping to force through a deal.

Rodgers sees the 26-year-old as surplus to requirements at Anfield following the arrival of Joe Allen from Swansea City on Friday and the impressive form of Jonjo Shelvey.

Rodgers and the club’s American owners want USA striker Dempsey but have been unable to agree a deal with Fulham, who value him at £10million.

But Liverpool hope the inclusion of Adam as part of the package will help push the move forward. Fulham are looking for a creative midfielder following the departure of Danny Murphy.

Rodgers is an admirer of Adam but has been surprised by the emergence of youngster Shelvey, who was picked ahead of his Scottish rival for the Europa League win against Gomel last week.

Rodgers has already begun breaking up Dalglish’s squad by letting Craig Bellamy, Maxi Rodriguez, Dirk Kuyt and Alberto Aquilani leave but he needs more departures to bring in more signings, following the arrivals of Fabio Borini and Allen.

Daniel Agger is the subject of interest from Manchester City, while Liverpool hope to agree a deal which would see £35m Carroll return to Newcastle only 18 months after he joined.

Both the Telegraph and Guardian also report that Rodgers remains keen to add width to his side, with Adam Johnson his preferred target. The England international has struggled to hold down a regular place in the Manchester City first team and could well be available this summer.

Although left-footed Johnson has established himself on the right flank and could potentially be a replacement for the departed Dirk Kuyt.

This story has been reproduced from the media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club or Red's Fury™ blog.

Friday, June 15, 2012

The papers has been going rounds and more speculation on the Premier League champions, Manchester City’s winger Adam Johnson’s footballing future at the Etihad Stadium. It’s difficult to know exactly who’s to believe in.

According to some sources he’s perfectly content at the Etihad stadium, whilst according to others he’s itching for a move. One paper will say that Roberto Mancini is prepared to sell the 24-year-old, whilst another will claim that Manchester City view him as a keeper.

More intriguing stories from the daily paper suggested Manchester City would entertain bids of around £10million for Johnson’s services. Of course, it’s difficult to know exactly how true this is. Manchester City spent £8million bringing Johnson in from Middlesbrough and he’s improved in quality significantly in the proceeding years. Given his status as a young British talent (and given that Liverpool spent approximately £20million on Jordan Henderson last summer) that price tag seems rather low.

While my poll on “First summer signing for LFC?” has been up and running with Johnson leading the vote counts, it’s hard not for Liverpool new manager Brendan Rodgers to take a look at the City’s winger.

Perhaps, moneybags Manchester City are merely exercising their more generous side. He’s a player who hasn’t got a fair run of games in the first team and they may well be prepared to accept bids below his worth in order to give him the exit route he deserves. He’s a good player but he’s perhaps not as fully formed as a number of others in City’s roster so it’s fair to say he’ll always be a part of the squad’s second string.

Last summer Liverpool gambled on Stewart Downing. I think it’s fair to say that that experiment was a failure. No League goals, after 72 shots is an absolutely dreadful return. The Reds need a player like Johnson to run the wings. A player who offers results, not just potential. If the club are ever to drag themselves back up to the Premier League, Johnson is exactly the kind of player they should be looking at.

So if there’s any truth to the claims that he currently has a £10million price-tag, I think Liverpool should snap him up now.

Who will become Brendan Rodgers’ first signing as a Liverpool manager? Let’s go through the list reported in the press.

Clint Dempsey

The Anfield club's co-owner Tom Werner admitted: 'We never talk publicly about our transfer targets, however, any team would be lucky to have Clint Dempsey playing on their squad.'

At the moment Rodgers is also said to be actively pursuing Clint Dempsey, whom he feels will fit into the system of play that the new head honcho prefers. By agreeing to coach Liverpool, Rodgers will carry the aspirations, dreams and desires of hundreds of millions of Liverpool fans worldwide.

Adam Johnson

Talks are set to move forward in the coming days and the Kop outfit are hoping the Blues will do quick business on the England star who narrowly missed out on Roy Hodgson's Euro 2012 squad.

Brendan Rodgers knows he also faces stiff competition from both Sunderland and Newcastle for Johnson, but the Merseysiders are understood to be willing to match his City wages.

Former Anfield boss Kenny Dalglish set the wheels in the motion last season and Liverpool scouts have been tracking the tricky 24-year-old ever since.

Rodgers is also a huge admirer of the player and has been told the funds are there to push through a big deal.

Johnson is now looking for more first-team opportunities to further his England claims and Liverpool are confident they can provide them.

Gylfi Sigurdsson

Iceland midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson admits he would be interested in a move to Liverpool to be reunited with former manager Brendan Rodgers after claiming his record-breaking move to Swansea is off.

Last week the Swans agreed a £6.8million transfer - almost doubling their record fee - to sign the player from Hoffenheim permanently after his successful four-month loan spell subject to a medical.

However, Rodgers' departure to Anfield cast doubt on the deal and Sigurdsson now does not think he will complete it - despite being keen to remain in the Premier League.

Mohamed Diame

Mohamed Diame’s move to Liverpool is back on, after it emerged that new Reds manager Brendan Rodgers is a fan of the former Wigan midfielder.

The Senegalese international was initially sounded out by former Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish about a move to Anfield, before the Scot lost his job.

The 24-year-old – available on a Bosman after his contract with the Latics ran out – said he had hoped to move to Liverpool but was looking at other options, but it has now emerged that Rodgers would be keen on signing him.

First summer signing for LFC?

This story has been reproduced from the media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club or Red's Fury™ blog.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Newly installed Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers is wasting no time in his pursuit of new additions to his Anfield squad and having offloaded Dirk Kuyt to Fenerbahce, the former Swansea City manager will now look to move for Manchester City winger Adam Johnson.

Rodgers is believed to be preparing a significant bid, said to be in the region of £16million, for the 24-year-old England international and the Northern Irishman will hope that the promise of regular first team football will act as enough motivation for the former Middlesbrough man to push for an Etihad Stadium exit.

Johnson has struggled to make an impact at Manchester City and has consistently failed to secure a regular first team berth ever since his £7million move to the club. Last term the Sunderland born winger managed just 10 Premier League starts and as a result lost his spot in the England Euro 2012 squad.

Whilst Manchester City may well have won the Premier League and have Champions League football to look forward to Johnson may well feel that his career is stagnating at the club. The arrival of Samir Nasri last summer further stifled his progress and talk of further additions could well spell a death knell to his time at the big spending club.

Liverpool could well do with a more natural right wing option as Jordan Henderson has struggled to fill the role since his move to the club and with Kuyt having left there is indeed further need to consider addressing the problem area.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Liverpool have been linked with a move for Adam Johnson for quite some time but it would appear that the chances of snapping up the England international have lessened given that the right winger has seen his side become genuine contenders for major honours this term.

However the former Middlesbrough man is still struggling to get regular first team football. Last term the 24 year old started 15 Premier League games whilst making another 16 appearances from the bench and this season has made three top tier starts and managed just 14 minutes of Champions League football.

Given that Roberto Mancini has a plethora of wide options, including David Silva, Samir Nasri, Mario Balotelli and James Milner to name just four top internationals, the Italian would probably not stand in the way of Adam Johnson if he pushed for to leave the club.

However Johnson may feel he has the ability to beat off competition to become a regular at Man City but clearly if Liverpool were to show their return to form by pushing for a top four spot themselves, then perhaps the intelligent winger would consider a move to Anfield.

Liverpool have brought in a number of midfield additions over the summer, with Stewart Downing, Johnson’s former team-mate at the Riverside, making the left side role his own. Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam were brought in to add more options for Kenny Dalglish who then lost Raul Meireles to Chelsea and then loaned out Alberto Aquilani to AC Milan.

The right hand side of his midfield is now being primarily taken by Henderson but the England Under 21 international is also very effective in the centre of the park. Dirk Kuyt has found himself pushed out of the first team and the Dutchman may well be considering his future.

Johnson would cost Liverpool at least £15million and clearly Man City have no financial need to sell the player so a lot would depend on the player’s intentions to fight to prove himself to Mancini, knowing that regular first team football may be needed in order to maintain his spot in Fabio Capello’s England plans ahead of the Euro 2012 finals next summer.

This story has been reproduced from the media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.